TRAVEL blogger Daniel Ross from Great Britain visited Croatia this summer, and he described his vacation during the coronavirus pandemic on the portal The Points Guy UK. He first wrote that he was eagerly waiting for the British authorities to open the borders on July 3 and allow international travel. He chose Croatia because he had not been here before.
"I immediately started looking at destinations where I could mix a bit of working remotely and a holiday. Conscious that I might not get to travel again for a while if there were to be a second wave of COVID-19, I wanted to go somewhere that I'd never been before. Croatia jumped out of the list at me — so I started planning the trip," he wrote.
He landed in Split with friends, and at the airport, he realized how different air travel has become since the pandemic.
"Ours was the only flight to arrive within the last hour or so, and as I was one of the first people off the plane, there was no queue for immigration," he described.
He added that he had a great experience with the Croatian border police. They asked him for contact information, presumably so that they would know where he was in case of infection, and he immediately received an SMS message from the Ministry of the Interior. "In Croatian, of course," he commented on the fact that such an important message is sent to foreigners in a language they do not understand.
"There were no other questions asked regarding countries previously visited, and no form to fill out. I judged the good-natured, friendly vibe of the staff member and tried my luck with requesting a stamp in my passport. She winked, and went ahead and stamped me," he described.
He added that many tourists returned to Croatia, but there were not as many of them as in previous years.
"Looking back, the winner for the best place to socially distance (other than in our private accommodation) is likely to have been the airport," he wrote.
He wrote about visiting friends on Hvar and spending several evenings on the hotel terrace, which was completely empty.
"If you do want to get away this summer, spending a little more on a higher-end hotel might provide you with a more exclusive, socially distanced break. Outside in the street, it was a completely different story. The narrow lanes of Hvar were rammed full of bars and restaurants with diners and shot-takers alike spilling out onto the stone-paved walkways, seemingly without a COVID care in the world," he concluded.
He also visited the Carpe Diem club and concluded that it was probably open because it is located outdoors. He noticed the hand sanitizers, but thought they did not make much of a difference when people from different countries were dancing close together. He added that it might be better to avoid boat tours to the surrounding islands and the Blue Cave because no one adheres to the measures.
He also wrote that he was surprised by how many masks they wear in Croatia.
"First impressions were good. Both airport staff and staff onboard the Krilo catamaran from Split to Hvar were all wearing masks, and passengers in the airport and on the boat are required to wear masks at all times. However, many of the staff weren't wearing theirs properly, missing the nose cover," he wrote.
He noted that 70 percent of restaurant and bar employees do not wear masks. He acknowledges that it is difficult to work with a mask at these temperatures, but he still thinks it absolutely necessary to wear it.
"The worst offenders, and most common sight, was the wait staff who wore their masks around their arms," he wrote.
He also wrote about mandatory masks in supermarkets, pharmacies, and other stores.
"During my visit to Hvar and Split, the happy, holiday, almost-entirely carefree atmosphere had me a little too relaxed at times. The lack of real mask-wearing outdoors or at restaurants and bars made for scenes reminiscent of travel in a pre-COVID era. That said, I always carried my mask and hand sanitiser with me and made sure to be as socially distanced as possible, whenever it was feasible to do so," he wrote.
He added that Croatia is now definitely in the top five of his favorite countries.
"I had an amazing time and can't wait to go back already. However, is it safe to visit Croatia right now? Without looking into the data about cases, it's not easy to say yes or no. Travelling to Croatia is likely to be just as risky as travelling anywhere abroad right now," he wrote.
"Despite the seemingly relaxed approach that locals and tourists alike were taking to the pandemic, I didn't particularly feel more at risk while I was there than if I was at a pub or a bar here in the U.K. That said, it could only be a matter of time before the country gets hit with a wave of the virus due to an influx of tourists arriving from across the world. And for that reason, you may want to hold off on booking a holiday to the destination, given it could be removed from the U.K.'s travel corridors list at any time," he concluded.